Sudden Run Pushes Racers Past Aces For First Road Win

The Murray State Racers won their first road game of the season and pushed their win streak to three Saturday with an 81-59 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

The Racers (6-9) moved to 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference with a Wednesday game coming against the Missouri State Bears at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Mo.

Rob Perry led five Racers in double-digit scoring with 17 points, while Brian Moore, Jr., reached the career 1500-Point Club in his collegiate career with 15 points. JaCobi Wood added 14 points and six assists, Alden Applewhite sett his MSU best with 13 points and Quincy Anderson scored 10.

The Racers put together a game-deciding run when they made six-straight field goals on the way to a 17-0 run over a period of 6:30 in the second half. Justin Morgan began the offensive outburst with a 3-pointer on his first attempt of the day as he finished with a career-high four steals. Perry scored 13 of the 17 points for the Racers in this crucial time block including three-straight 3-pointers.

In the first half, the Racers put together with a 15-4 run over 6:55 when Sam Murray, Jr., fed Perry for a layup to make it 26-14 Racers. The half ended with Nick Ellington picking up his third foul at 1:17 when there was a double-technical called. Wood hit the Racers' final bucket of the half and MSU had a 31-20 lead at the intermission.

Game Notes

The Racers get their first road win of the 2023-24 season and their first since last season at Illinois State (Feb. 13).
The Purple Aces visit the CFSB Center to meet the Racers on Feb. 10.
In their first 21 possessions of the second half, the Racers scored on 17 of them, while holding UE to 8-of-21.
UE's 20 points at halftime was a season-best for the Racers' defense, besting the 24 points by Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 16).
It was the best first half defensive effort for MSU since holding the Aces to 21 points last season (01-01-23).
Morgan had a career-high four steals and matched the season-high for the Racers when Applewhite had four steals vs Little Rock (Dec. 13).
MSU's 14 steals today is their season-high and marks best since 2019 when the Racers had 14 steals against Eastern Kentucky in a 97-85 win at home.
In MSU's five NCAA DI wins this season, they have outscored the opponent each time from the free throw line for a total advantage of 45 points.
Today the Racers were perfect from the free throw line on 13-of-13.
Wood and Anderson carry free throw streaks of 16 and 15 into the next game.
The announced crowd of 7,928 was attended by several hundred Murray State fans that helped produce UE's fifth-largest crowd in their history in the Ford Center.

Follow the Racers on Twitter (@MSURacers), Instagram (@RacersAthletics) and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Murray State Athletics. Follow Murray State men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RacersHoops).

It's time to think about purchasing tickets to 2024 State Farm Arch Madness (March 7-10) in St. Louis, Missouri. The Enterprise Center is set to host the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament which will be staged in the Gateway City for a 34th consecutive time. Through Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, Racer fans get a discounted price of $175 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased through the Murray State ticket office at the CFSB Center, by calling (270) 809-3000 or online through GoRacers.com and TicketMaster.com.

Murray State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Quincy Anderson

Alden Applewhite

Nick Ellington

Brian Moore, Jr.

Justin Morgan

Rob Perry

JaCobi Wood

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